


Six Years Later

by MusicPrincess655



Series: A Collection of Solangelo [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Gay Sex, M/M, Male Homosexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 19:03:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4576176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicPrincess655/pseuds/MusicPrincess655
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Will and Nico as they live their lives as twenty-somthings. Contains boyxboy. Only chapters one and four are M. Rated M for lemons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to my earlier story, Three Days. It takes place six years later, with Nico and Will as a couple in their twenties.  
> I don't own BoO or PJO.

Nico was walking through the forest. It was close to evening, and he was done with his duties as a sword instructor for the day. Will was in medical school at the Stony Brook School of Medicine, and he wasn't back for the day yet. Nico liked to wander the forest. It was peaceful here, at least until the kids started playing Capture the Flag. Nico and Will didn't play anymore. Nico was twenty and Will was twenty two, and they weren't campers anymore.

Annabeth and Percy had come back the summer after they went to New Rome. Annabeth had been full of ideas to build a place of refuge for Greek demigods like the Romans had. She had started drawing up plans before another child of Athena took over for her and she and Percy went back to New Rome. They had only come back sporadically after that. Nico and Will had gone to New Rome two years ago for their wedding, and Percy had sent an Iris message a few weeks ago to announce the birth of their first son, who was named Luke Nico Jackson. Nico had been flattered that Percy had named his son after him.

"I wanted to name him after heroes, and you're one of the best I know," Percy had told him.

Once Serena, the child of Athena in charge of building New Athens, had finished building some housing, Nico had moved out of Hades Cabin and into a small house with Will. He had finished redecorating the Hades Cabin before he left, though. Now it was done in soft shades of silver, gold, and white, and the beds didn't look like coffins. They just looked like ordinary beds. The cabin wasn't nearly as creepy as when he first set foot in it.

Nico himself had changed a lot in the past six years. His skin had returned to its natural olive complexion from years of limiting his use of Underworld magic and healing from Will. He stood just under six feet tall, but since Will had grown too he was still about a head shorter than Will. He didn't feel angry all the time anymore. He had healed, from years of peace and Will Solace.

Suddenly, a shriek tore through the air. Nico was running before he could think. He burst through the trees to find a little girl screaming as a hellhound ate a satyr that must have been her protector. Nico drew his Stygion iron sword without missing a beat, but by the time he had struck the hellhound down, the satyr was already dead. Sheathing his sword, he turned to the girl, who had stopped screaming but had tears in her eyes.

"My name is Nico," he said, slowly stretching his hand out to the girl. She was so young, she couldn't have been more than four or five. "Are you hurt? What's your name?"

She grabbed his hand, sniffling. Her grip was strong for such a little girl.

"My name is Arya," she sobbed.

"How old are you, Arya," Nico asked. She stepped forward, and he pulled her into an embrace.

"Four," she cried. Nico held her for a minute, felt her shaking shoulders. He picked her up.

"I'm going to take you to a safe place," he told her. "It's called Camp Half-Blood. Monsters won't be able to get to you there."

He cradled her in his arms as he walked into camp. Chiron came running up. Not much escaped the centaur's notice.

"What happened, Nico?" Chiron asked.

"This girl, Arya, was attacked in the forest by a hellhound," Nico told him. "Her protector was killed before I could get to them."

"At least you managed to save her," Chiron said. "Do you know who your godly parent is, child?"

"No," Arya answered, curling tighter into Nico's chest. "Carter told me about the Greek gods, but I don't know which one is my father. My mother died when Carter took me and ran. She stayed to protect me, and she died."

"Nico, take her to the infirmary," Chiron said. "Will's back, he'll take care of her. I will go take care of Carter's body."

Arya buried her face deeper into Nico's chest as he walked to the infirmary. His heart beat faster at the thought of seeing Will. Will still had that effect on him, even after six years of dating. He was worried about Arya, though. She was sobbing uncontrollably into his chest, and he remembered that she said she was only four. She had watched her mother and her protector die, and she was only four. Nico wondered idly which god was her father. It certainly wasn't Hades. He would have been able to sense that much. Besides, she had light blonde hair and blue eyes. Maybe she was a child of Apollo like Will. Hopefully if she was, she would get along with him. Nico was surprised she wasn't scared of him. Even though he had really toned down the Underworld magic, he still startled people a lot. By the way she was clinging to him, that wasn't the case with Arya.

Nico walked into the infirmary. A few people were bustling around, but Will was the first to run up to him. He stopped short when he saw the girl Nico was carrying.

"What happened to her?" he asked.

"She and her protector were attacked in the forest as they were coming into camp," Nico told him. "Chiron said to bring her here."

"Well, put her down here and I'll take a look," Will said. But when Nico tried to put her down on the bed, she shrieked "NO!" and clung to him tighter, locking her legs around him and grabbing his shirt. So Nico just sat on the bed without letting her go.

"It's okay, Arya," he said. "I've got you."

Will ran his hands over her professionally, looking for wounds. He made her follow his finger with her eyes and shone a light into them.

"There's nothing wounded," he pronounced. "I'll give her some ambrosia to help with the emotional trauma, but she should be fine in the long run."

Will offered her a small square of ambrosia. She took it, eyeing him suspiciously. Nico was surprised that she seemed to trust him so much and Will so little. Usually it was the other way around.

"You can trust Will, you know," he told her. "He's my best friend, and he knows what he's doing."

Arya relaxed a little.

"Well, we've missed campfire," Will said. "Arya, there's no reason for you to stay in the infirmary unless you want to."

"Where will I go?" she asked.

"You'll stay in the Hermes Cabin until your parent claims you," Will told her. "Hermes is the god of thieves and travelers, and there will be plenty of people there to look after you."

"I want to stay with Nico."

"That's not how it works, cucciola," Nico said, the term of endearment dropping off his tongue without him noticing it. He only realized he'd said it when Will looked up with surprise. "You have to be with your family. Your parent will claim you soon, they have to now that you're at camp. You look like you could be a child of Apollo, you could end up in Will's old cabin with your new brothers and sisters."

She sniffed. "Okay."

Nico and Will dropped her off at the Hermes Cabin. She had started crying again when Nico put her down.

"Arya, I'll see you in the morning," Nico told her. "I promise I'll stay with you all day tomorrow. You just have to get through tonight. You've been brave so far, you just have to be brave for another night."

She had finally let go of him and stayed at Hermes Cabin, but Nico couldn't stop looking at her over his shoulder as he walked away with Will. They got back to their house and Will was instantly hugging Nico.

"It's been a long day, angel," Will murmured into Nico's neck. Nico was usually more than in the mood when Will was like this, but he couldn't get Arya off his mind.

"You still thinking about her?" Will asked.

"I can't stop," Nico admitted. "She's so young, Will, and she saw her mother die."

"You can't change that," Will told him. "She likes you, and you'll be there for her tomorrow.

"Do you ever think about having kids?" he asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"I've never thought about you as a dad," Will said, "but when you walked in with her in your arms, you just looked…right. Do you ever think that you want kids, a family?"

"I grew up in the 1940's," Nico said. "Even when I knew I was gay…it was just expected that every man had his wife and kids. I never really thought about not having kids."

"You being good with kids…it's very sexy," Will breathed in his ear. Nico shivered.

"I thought only girls found that sexy."

"I find most things about you sexy, angel, and this is just the newest on a long list."

Will pulled Nico in for a long kiss. Their tongues danced as Will pulled Nico's shirt off. Nico gasped as he felt Will's lips on his collarbone.

"I've been missing you all day, angel," Will murmured, pulling his own shirt off. His hands were on Nico's waist as Nico grabbed Will's shoulders. Will made an impatient noise in the back of his throat and picked Nico up, sliding his hands under his thighs to keep him up. Will stumbled a little before pushing Nico down on their bed. Will's blue eyes seemed to glow in the dark, and he was staring right into Nico's.

"Med school must be rough," Nico said with a breathy laugh. "You're not usually this clingy."

"I haven't seen you all day. Did you expect anything else?" Will teased, biting gently into Nico's earlobe. That made Nico moan and Will laugh. Will moved his lips down to Nico's neck as he moved his hands down to Nico's pants. He unbuttoned them and pulled them down. Nico had one hand on Will's back and the other in Will's hair, holding him against his neck. Nico moved the hand that was on Will's back down to his pants. Unbuttoning them, he reached in without bothering to pull them off. Will moaned and found his way back to Nico's mouth.

They fell into each other. Even after all these years, sometimes it still felt like their first time. It had been when Nico was sixteen and Will was eighteen. Four years later, sometimes it still felt the same, but that was what Nico loved about it. He loved having something in his life that would never go away.

He loved Will Solace.


	2. Chapter 2

Nico was woken in the middle of the night by pounding on the door. He sat up sleepily, pushing his dark hair out of his eyes. Will sighed from the movement and tried to pull Nico back down.

"Ignore them," Will muttered. "It can wait."

"They won't go away," Nico said back. He got up, pulling on a pair of boxers and a t-shirt that was in reach. He realized from the smell that it was Will's as he walked to the door of their house. Standing in the doorway was Kyle Carroway, the head counselor of Hermes Cabin.

"Nico, that kid you found today?" Kyle said. "She had a nightmare and she won't stop screaming for you."

Nico couldn't find a pair of pants fast enough. Will sat up, roused out of sleep.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Arya had a nightmare," Nico told him. "Kyle said she was screaming for me."

Will swung his legs out as Nico raced out of their house. He was into camp and on his way to the Hermes cabin in seconds. He could hear Arya's screams and cries from outside. Bursting in, he immediately spotted her in a corner, curled into a ball.

"Arya!" he called. She broke off from a scream and looked at him. He scooped her up and started murmuring to her in Italian. It was a bunch of nonsense, but he tried to sound soothing. She hid her head in his shoulder.

"What happened, cucciola?" Nico asked her.

"I had a nightmare," she cried. "I saw my mommy dying again."

Nico couldn't answer that. Really, there wasn't anything to say to it. He just held her while she cried. A couple of campers looked at him sleepily. Some burrowed deeper into their sleeping bags to get away from the crying.

"Nico?" Kyle asked. "What's the story?"

"What happened?" Will asked, running into the cabin. His hair stuck up in all directions, and he looked like he was still half asleep.

"I think…" Nico broke off, looking at Arya. "Will, you think she could stay with us? We have the pull out couch, she could stay the night."

"I don't mind…" Will started, but Kyle cut him off.

"Nico, I'd happily let her go with you, but there are rules, and you guys aren't even in the camp cabins," Kyle said. "It would be one thing if she was related to one of you, but as far as we know she's not."

"Kyle, I know the rules," Nico sighed. "But man, she's only four. We're not used to having kids that young at camp without their parents. Can't we bend the rules a little, just until her parent claims her?"

Kyle sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Fine," he said. "But if Chiron gets mad I'm blaming you."

"Fine," Nico replied. He picked Arya up. "Come on, you can come with us, Arya."

Her sobs turned to sniffles as he and Will walked back to their house. Will started to make up the pull out couch as Nico rocked Arya. She seemed to be getting sleepier.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing. Nico looked and felt his cheeks grow pink. He and Will had gone to a fair a few years ago. Will had won a golden teddy bear at the ball-throw booth and presented it to Nico. He had even enchanted it so that it was always warm and glowed a little. Nico would die before he admitted it, but he secretly loved that teddy bear because it had been a present from Will. He picked it up and handed it to Arya.

"It's a teddy bear," he told her. "Will gave it to me."

"Why is it so warm?" she asked.

"Because Will is a son of Apollo and he enchanted it to hold a little bit of sun magic," Nico said. She hugged the teddy bear tightly. Will stood up, done with the couch. Nico put Arya down and tucked her in.

"Nico?" she asked. "Will you sing to me? My mommy always used to sing to me before I went to sleep."

"What did she sing to you?" Nico asked. He felt panic rising in his stomach. He didn't really know any lullabies, or really any children's songs.

"It goes like 'sleep, my child, and peace attend you, all through the night' I think," she said sleepily. Nico breathed a sigh of relief. He actually knew "All Through the Night".

"Sleep, my child, and peace attend you, all through the night," he sang softly, carefully avoiding Will's eyes. "Guardian angels God will send you, all through the night." Arya snuggled herself under her blankets, cuddling the teddy bear. "Soft the drowsy hours are creeping, hill and vale in slumber sleeping." Arya's eyes were dropping closed, her mouth open in a little "o". "I my loving vigil keeping, all through the night." Arya's breathing was even. She was asleep. Nico looked at how her light blonde hair matched with the slightly glowing teddy bear. She was adorable.

"Well, that was…unexpected," Will whispered. Nico led him back to the bedroom. He didn't want to wake Arya up again tonight.

"Shut up. I'm not in the mood to be teased," Nico said. He knew his cheeks were bright red.

"I'm not trying to tease you," Will said. "You have a beautiful voice, you know."

"You're the only one who thinks so."

"That's because you never sing in public. Arya seemed to like it well enough. Besides, I'm a son of Apollo. I should know when someone has a good voice."

"Yeah, but you're biased," Nico said. Will chuckled deep in his chest and pulled Nico in for a hug.

"You're amazing with her," he said, his lips pressed in to Nico's hair. "I didn't know you knew lullabies."

"I don't, really," Nico replied, leaning in to Will's chest. "I got lucky and knew that one. I don't even know from where."

"Maybe your mom sang it to you, before you could remember," Will suggested.

"Maybe," Nico said. "It's not Italian, so I don't know if that's it. Maybe I just heard it somewhere."

"What are you going to do once her parent claims her?" Will asked. Nico shrugged, trying not to be bothered by the question.

"Let her go to her cabin, what else?" he replied. "She'll have plenty of brothers and sisters to take care of her."

"She's a baby, angel, she doesn't need siblings, she needs parents," Will said. "You know, if she's a daughter of Apollo, she could stay with us based on a relative claim. We have that spare room we're not using. We could get her a bed, make that her room."

"You think she's a daughter of Apollo?" Nico asked. "Can you sense that about her?"

"I feel a pull towards her like I do with my siblings, but it's not quite the same. Maybe that's because she's so young," Will said.

"You'd let her live with us?" Nico asked, just now catching the last part of Will's sentence. "Don't you think it would be better for her to stay with her own siblings?"

"No, I don't, and you don't either," Will said sternly. "Angel, she's four. What are they going to do with her? What about when they have to put her to bed after campfire and assign someone to be her babysitter because she can't be left alone? What about when they all start to resent the rotating babysitter duty? How about when they play capture the flag, will they put her in armor and let her play? Other couples in New Athens have children, but their children still live with them. Piper and Jason haven't sent their toddler to live in the cabins because he's too little. Arya is too young for camp. I'm sure she'd love some brothers and sisters, but she needs parents."

"Okay, Will, if she's a child of Apollo, then we'll let her live with us," Nico said. He was secretly happy that Will was so okay with this. "What, you want kids that bad, sunshine?"

He'd meant it to be teasing, but when he caught Will's eyes, he knew Will took it seriously.

"Sure," Will replied. "I'd love kids. I'd love having a little one to take care of, who would follow me around and call me Dad. I'd love to have a family with you."

Nico was taken aback. What did he himself want? He hadn't really thought about it, but he would like to have a family, too. And Arya…she was on his mind so much, and he'd known her for less than a day. Could she be his daughter?

"We can talk about this in the morning," Nico said. "Right now, I'm tired, and I know you're about to drop."

"Fine."

The next day, Nico took Arya on a tour of the camp, showing her the lake and the climbing wall (which he told her to keep off because it was dangerous) and the sword fighting area (which he told her to stay away from because it was dangerous) and the chariot races (which he told her to stay away from because it was dangerous) and the woods (he was starting to get concerned by how many things in camp were dangerous).

They walked through the streets of New Athens, stopping around noon to get lunch. They got ice cream, and she started laughing when he got some all over his nose. He retaliated by wiping some across her cheek. They were both laughing so hard that Arya had tears in her eyes. The day went by quickly, and before Nico knew it they were done with dinner and heading to the campfire.

Will slid in next to him just as the sing-a-long started. Arya was clapping her hands along with the tune. Suddenly, a light went off over her head. The camp fell silent as the light morphed into a rod with a single snake wrapped around it. Arya looked solemnly up at the light over her head.

"What does this mean?" she asked.

"It means that you are a daughter of Asclepius," Chiron replied, walking over. "Welcome, Arya."

Campfire was just about over, anyway, and Arya was starting to droop in her seat. Nico scooped her up.

"Hey, Jason, which way is the Asclepius cabin?" Nico asked. Jason dropped Piper's hand to come talk to Nico. He looked a little sheepish.

"Well, ah, about that…" he started, looking at his feet.

"We don't have a cabin for Asclepius?" Nico asked, incredulous. "You're the freaking Pontifex Maximus, man. Isn't that kind of your freaking job? How do we not have an Asclepius cabin?"

"To date, we haven't had any kids from him," Jason said defensively. "We have a shrine for him, but she can't sleep there, can she?"

"No, she can't," Nico sighed. "Okay, Arya, you're coming home with Will and me again."

"Just a second, Nico," Chiron walked over. "I'm willing to let it slide that she stayed with you two yesterday, but we really need to find another arrangement."

"I can make a claim for her as a relative," Will said. "She's a daughter of Asclepius, that makes her my niece. We're taking her home with us."

"Very well," Chiron said, smiling. "You two are responsible for her."

"What's going on?" Arya asked.

"You're going to stay with Will and me for a while," Nico told her. "We worked it all out."

"Yay!" she cheered, hugging him tighter. He hugged her back.

He tucked her in back at the house and sang her to sleep. He was brushing his teeth when he heard Will snort behind him.

"Ghosts on your pajamas. Very cute, angel," he smirked. Nico looked down at his pajama pants. They had little cartoon ghosts all over.

"Shut it, sunshine," Nico snapped back.

"Oh, quit pretending you're not happy she's living with us," Will said.

Nico and Will cuddled together into bed, but Nico was woken in the middle of the night by a poke on his shoulder. He rolled over to see Arya standing there, lit by the glow of the teddy bear.

"I had a bad dream," she said quietly. Nico held out his arms, and she climbed into them. Will grunted as he shifted to make room for her. They all fell back asleep, Will and Nico around Arya in between them.


	3. Chapter 3

A few weeks later…

Arya had been living with Nico and Will for a few weeks now. They had set up the spare room to make it her own. She had her own bed now, with clean white sheets and a design of suns that matched the teddy bear, which she slept with every night. The walls were a light blue that went well with the sheets, and has designs of clouds painted on them. Nico had painted a few clouds to look like ghosts, his own private joke.

Most days, while Nico was performing his counselor duties and Will was at school, Arya played with Piper and Jason's son, Leo. Leo was about a year younger than Arya, but they were thick as thieves, running about the camp, stirring up trouble, driving Piper crazy. She finally came to Nico.

"You have to participate in the babysitting," she told him severely, rubbing her huge pregnant belly. She and Jason weren't sure, but they thought it was a girl.

"I'm a counselor, Piper, I'm always working, and I can't watch her while I'm swinging a sword around," he said defensively.

"Well, you're off on the weekends, and I can take over for you one day a week. That would give me enough of a break from those two."

"Piper, I can't ask you to take my class…" Nico began, but Piper cut him off.

"You can and I will happily accept," she said. "Nico, you have to take care of your own kid."

"She's not my kid," Nico mumbled, looking at the ground.

"Really? Could have fooled me, Jason, and just about everyone else in camp," she replied. "Could have fooled Will."

Nico's head snapped up at that.

"What do you mean, could have fooled Will? What's Will got to do with it?"

"Nico, how oblivious are you?" Piper sighed. "Will's wanted kids for years. Didn't you see how he was when Leo was born, he couldn't keep away. And when Luke was born, don't you remember how excited he was, he wanted to go all the way to New Rome to see him. Will loves kids and wants a family with you, but he always thought you didn't like kids. I bet the minute you walked in with that little girl in your arms, his heart exploded. He's wanted this for years, and it's like you offered it up to him on a silver platter."

"So what are you saying, we should adopt Arya?" Nico asked. "I'm always here, teaching sword fighting or herding campers around, how am I going to have time to take care of a kid?"

"In case you haven't noticed, you're not the only adult living in New Athens," Piper shot back. "Old campers are pouring in, it's not like you couldn't take a year off to take care of her until she's old enough to go to school during the day. Besides, a bunch of the former campers are getting married, so it's not like she and Leo and this baby will be the only kids around here. We're allowed to ask each other to help and share babysitting turns, you know.

"And I'm not telling you to adopt Arya," she continued as Nico opened his mouth. "I'm saying talk to Will and don't be surprised if he wants to."

"How could I have missed that?" Nico asked. "We've been together for six years, how have I missed how bad he wants kids?"  
"He hid it well," Piper told him. "He loves you enough that he won't risk losing you, even for the family he wants."

Nico was waiting when Will got home. Arya was on the couch in the living room, watching TV. Will jumped a bit. Nico realized he must be staring really intensely.

"Sorry, sunshine," Nico said sheepishly. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's fine," Will laughed. "I thought you were mad at me or something."

And all of a sudden, Nico kind of was.

"Why is it that you hid how bad you want kids from me for years?" Nico snapped. "Why is it that, instead of you, Piper has to tell me that? Why didn't I ever notice?"

"Angel, where's this coming from?" Will asked, running his hands over Nico's shoulders soothingly. "Why are you so mad?"

"Because I should have seen this a long time ago," Nico said, frustrated. "I'm supposed to be your boyfriend, and I can't even notice simple things like how much you want a family. I don't want to make you choose between me and everything else you want. If you want kids, I wish you had just told me. We're supposed to talk about things. I wouldn't have said no to just talking about it."

Unexpectedly, Will leaned forward and kissed Nico, hard.

"Seriously? You would have talked about it?" Will asked, his face lighting up. "I thought you would have just shot me down if I asked you to marry me or to have kids."

"I love you, sunshine. I'll never shoot you down if it's something that's important to you," Nico said, raising his hand to Will's cheek. "Wait, what do you mean, ask me to marry you?"

"Not important, we're talking about Arya right now," Will said hurriedly. "Angel, are you suggesting we adopt her?"

"I was going to ask what you thought, and I was warned that you might want that," Nico said. "She already lives with us, she has her own room. I'm sure if we asked, Chiron would let us adopt her. But we really need to ask her, don't you think?"

"I'd like to know what she thinks myself," Will said. "Arya?" he asked, walking into the next room. Arya looked up from the Loony Toons she was watching. "Nico and I have been talking, and we're thinking about adopting you," Will said. "What do you think about that?"

"Does that mean you would both be my daddies?" Arya asked.

"Yes, I guess it would," Nico said. "I wonder how we'll know who you're calling for."

"Are you Italian?" Arya asked.

"Yes, I am," Nico told her.

"What do people call their daddies in Italy?"

"Sometimes Babbo, sometimes Papa or Papi," Nico told her.

"Then I can call you Papa, and I can call Will Daddy," Arya said.

"So do you want us to adopt you?" Will asked. Nico could see he was on the edge of his seat.

"Yes," Arya giggled. "I never had a daddy. Now I have two."

"Three, if you want to count Asclepius," Nico said.

"He doesn't count," Arya frowned. "I never even met him."

Will and Nico both put Arya to bed in her room. Will read her a story, and Nico sang her to sleep with 'All Through the Night'.

"Do you think Chiron will still be up this late?" Will asked.

"Probably, but is it a good idea to leave her alone?" Nico replied.

"We'll be gone less than an hour, she hasn't had a nightmare in almost two weeks, and she hasn't had to sleep with us more than twice," Will reassured him. "She'll be fine for long enough to talk to Chiron."

Chiron, it turned out, was up that late (which really wasn't very late, since it was a little girl's bedtime).

"Chiron, we want to adopt Arya," Will said, getting right to the point.

"Are you two sure you're ready for the responsibility?" Chiron asked. "Will, you have four more years of medical school, and Nico, you're always working as a counselor. Do you have enough time to take care of her?"

"As a follow up, I'm going to need to take a year off from teaching sword fighting and being a counselor," Nico said. "There's a lot of former campers coming back to New Athens, I'm sure you could find someone to take my place for a year, just until she's old enough to go to school during the day."

"I can manage that," Chiron said. "I'll need a few days to gather the paperwork, but I've seen her situation in your home and I know you two have been taking good care of her for the past few weeks. I'm willing to let you two adopt her, as long as she wants you to."

"We already asked her," Nico said quickly. "It's what she wants."

"Then if you're willing to take the year off to take care of her, I see no reason why you shouldn't adopt her."

"Thank you, Chiron," Will said. He was practically skipping as he and Nico left.

"You're excited," Nico noted, amused.

"You are two, angel," Will teased. "You just don't show it as much. Are you going to be okay with taking a year off from sword fighting?"

"Honestly, it's not something I want to do for the rest of my life," Nico answered. "I definitely don't want to be sixty and still herding campers around, maybe herding Arya's kids around. But I don't know what else to do here at camp. Being a counselor is a job, even if it's not one I want to do forever. It's okay for now, though."

"Maybe you could be my lovely assistant," Will teased. "We always need more help over in the infirmary, and I plan on turning it into a real hospital when I get out of med school."

"Nah. Blood and death kind of freak me out, ever since the battle with Gaea," Nico shrugged.

"This coming from a son of Hades," Will chuckled. "Well, you're smart enough. Maybe you could go back to school or something. You can cook like I can't believe, too."

"I don't think I want to go back to school," Nico said. "It's not like I want to get book learning in. I do love to cook, though…" he trailed off, staring into the distance. An idea had just occurred to him.

"Angel? Earth to Nico," Will said, waving his hand in front of Nico's face.

"Didn't you say the other day that they were looking for people to open businesses in downtown New Athens?" Nico asked. "And specifically restaurants, since there aren't any restaurants there right now?"

"Yeah, Selena told me she was working on making the downtown a better place to hang out and give the former campers a place for jobs other than as counselors," Will replied. "What, you want to open up a restaurant?"

"I have some money saved up, and I have some precious metals and gems down in Hades that I could sell to get the startup equipment," Nico said, his mind racing. "And if I was the first one to open a restaurant down there, I wouldn't have much competition, at least for a while. I could get the business running before competition became a problem."

"Well, I can tell you're excited, so that's probably going to be a good choice for you," Will said. "But how are you going to watch Arya if you're setting up a restaurant?"

"I can work on it at night," Nico said, waving his hand. He was caught up in making plans in his head. "I can talk to Selena tomorrow, see what I need to get a restaurant downtown."

"Talk to me about it after, will you?" Will asked. "Make sure we're not biting off more than we can chew here, yeah?"

"Don't worry, Will, I'll keep you in the loop," Nico promised. He barely slept that night, caught up in all his plans for the restaurant he suddenly knew he wanted to open.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this contains lemons...

Almost a year of planning later…

Nico had spent a few months planning for the restaurant before he moved into the building to start setting things up. In that time, he had spent a lot of time hanging out in the kitchen with Arya, teaching her how to cook as he tried to perfect recipes and a menu. Will had complained that Nico was going to make them all fat from all the food he was making, but Nico knew Will was happy to see Nico so wrapped up in the planning. Nico had finally settled on what he wanted for the menu. He had then gone about finding people to staff the restaurant, mostly drawing from the former campers, but taking a few of the current campers who were almost out of high school and needed the money. And he had finally opened the restaurant a month ago.

In the midst of all that planning, he and Will had officially adopted Arya. She was five now, and since summer was almost over, she would be going to school soon. Nico was relieved that he wouldn't always have to worry about her during the day, but he knew he was going to miss her when she was gone. A child of Athena, Marissa, was going to be teaching at the school. Forty years old, with the distinctive wise grey eyes of Athena, she would be teaching in a class of several grades, since there were so few children in camp. Since Leo was almost five, he would be with Arya, but so far they would be the only two in their class. Marissa planned on finding more teachers as more children came to camp.

Nico was standing in the kitchen of his restaurant, making up a plate of pasta, when one of the other cooks, Annaliese, came up to him.

"Nico, it's your night off," she said.

"I know, Annaliese," Nico said, not taking his eyes off what he was doing. "Let me just finish with this…"

"Nico, you haven't taken a day off since we opened," Annaliese interrupted. "We can function without you for one night. Besides, Will is threatening to cause a scene if you don't go out to him."

"What's he planning on doing?" Nico asked. That was enough to get his attention away from the food.

"I'm not sure, but I saw that he had speakers," Annaliese warned him. "I would go head him off now."

Nico looked helplessly back at the food he had been working on.

"We are fine without you," Annaliese said again. "Go. Enjoy your date."

"But Annaliese…"

"At the risk of sounding rude to my boss, get your butt out of the kitchen and go eat dinner with your boyfriend."

Nico held his hands up in defeat and went back to the table where Will was sitting.

"You going to stay this time, angel?" Will teased. Nico sighed. "They'll function without you. I know the restaurant is your baby, but it can survive without you for one night. Sort of like how Arya will be able to survive without us for one night."

Arya was at home. One of Will's younger half-sisters, Luna, was babysitting her.

"So did you order?" Nico asked, sipping a glass of wine and taking a piece of bread.

"I didn't have to," Will answered. "Nick took one look at me and told me what we both wanted. They know us here, after all."

As if on cue, Nick appeared with a tray of food.

"Whole wheat pasta primavera for Will," Nick said, passing a plate to Will. "Chicken parmigiana for Nico."

"Okay, they're good," Nico agreed, taking a bite of his chicken, which tasted just as good as if he himself had prepared it.

A little ways away, a violin sounded. Mark was playing tonight. Nico remembered that it was Friday, so of course Mark would be here; he played in the restaurant every Friday night. Strangely enough, Mark was a child of Ares; he claimed playing violin helped him to control his anger issues.

Nico wrinkled his brow, listening to the song. He put his fork down to listen better. He was finished with his food, anyway. Will had been trying to catch him up on pop music, so he thought he recognized the music Mark was playing.

"Is that…I Swear?" Nico asked Will. He was caught off guard by the intensity with which Will was staring at him.

"Yes. Good, angel," Will said, ever taking his eyes off Nico's. Nico felt like he was trapped, frozen in place. His heart thumped wildly. What was Will doing?

"When I first met you," Will started, "you were a sad kid who was trying to heal from too many hurts. All I wanted to do when I met you was to heal you. And through the years we've been together you have healed. You're the strongest person I know, but you still have your beautiful heart. Now we have our family with Arya, and it makes me so happy. Being with you makes me so happy. I love to see you laugh, I love to see you smile, I love watching you concentrate and I love watching you with Arya. I love you even when we fight and when you're difficult. I want to keep loving you for the rest of my life." Will pulled a box out of his pocket. "Nico di Angelo, will you marry me?"

Nico felt color rise in his cheeks and tears flood his eyes.

"Yes," he whispered, fighting the tears of joy in his eyes. "I love you, sunshine."

"I love you too, angel," Will said, kissing him on the cheek. He pulled a ring out of the box. It was a simple silver band, with no markings on the outside, but when Will slid it on Nico's finger, Nico could feel engraving on the inside.

"What does it say?" Nico asked. Will smiled.

"Love always, angel," Will told him.

A few months later…

Nico and Will met where the campfire usually burned but the area was unrecognizable. There were flowers and other decorations everywhere, and everyone was wearing formal wear. Hazel walked Nico out to meet Will, while Will's mother walked Will to meet Nico. They met in the middle, and the two women put the two men's hands together. Arya, the little flower girl, sat in the very front, watching eagerly.

The ceremony was simple, not adhering to any religion. Chiron invoked both of their godly parents and Hera, out of respect. Nico and Will both dropped offerings into a small fire, again out of respect. They said the vows they had prepared to each other, and Chiron pronounced them married before the gods and in the eyes of the camp. Will kissed Nico, hugging him hard, and Arya cheered.

Nico and Will headed for a Pegasus drawn chariot, ready to head out for a honeymoon in the Florida Keys (going to Greece or Rome was still really dangerous). Arya would be spending the week in the Apollo Cabin, as a special guest.

Nico and Will had managed to find a cabin to rent for the week, just a short walk from the beach. Nico was carrying in a duffel bag and had just dropped it when two warm arms circled him, pinning his arms to his sides. Nico shivered as he felt Will's warm breath on his neck before Will started kissing under his ear.

"We just walked in, sunshine," Nico gasped.

"Do you want me to stop?" Will asked, a smile in his voice. Will knew the answer to that.

"No."

Will kissed up Nico's neck a nipped his ear, making Nico moan. At the same time, Will was undoing to buttons of Nico's shirt, making Nico's muscles contract by stroking up his abs. Nico turned around and would his arms around Will's neck, stretching up on his toes to meet Will's lips. Will nibbled at his lip and suddenly their tongues were winding around each other. Will slid his hands under Nico's thighs and lifted him up so he wasn't on his toes anymore. Nico gasped as Will pinned him against the wall, legs around Will's waist.

"We should…make it to the bed," Nico whispered between kisses.

"You have a lot of faith in me, angel," Will growled.

"Faith?"

"That I'll make it that far."

Despite what he said, Will swung Nico away from the wall, heading for the bedroom. Nico clung to Will as tight as he could. He knew Will wouldn't drop him; Will picked him up all the time. He just felt like he wasn't close enough to Will, despite the fact that he was flush against Will's chest.

They made it to the bedroom and tumbled onto the bed, Will pinning Nico down. Will pulled Nico's shirt off, kissing down Nico's chest. Nico tugged at Will's shirt, and suddenly their bare chests were pressed against each other. Even after all this time, Nico was shocked by how warm Will was. He could feel Will's heart beating fast.

Will's hands drifted down to Nico's pants, making Nico breathe faster. He stroked down Will's spine, just what he knew drove Will crazy. It worked now. Will grabbed Nico's hair with one hand and with the other reached into his boxers to touch him. Nico jumped and moaned against Will's lips, reaching down to touch Will, and somehow their pants were off. Will twisted and sat up so that Nico was straddling his lap. Nico was rocking and thrusting his hips, almost unconsciously. He kissed down Will's cheek and onto his neck, where he bit gently, making Will gasp. Will reached out and pulled at Nico's boxers.

"There's lube in my pants pocket," he breathed in Nico's ear. Nico rolled off Will and found where he had thrown Will's pants. When he turned around, Will had pulled his boxers off. Nico took a deep breath and pulled his own boxers off. For all the years he and Will had been together, he had gotten over his shyness.

He slid back over Will's lap, squirting some lube into his hand and spreading it along Will's dick. Will shivered as he moved his hands to Nico's hips.

"Ready for this, angel?" he asked. Nico pressed his lips to Will's in reply. Will guided Nico's hips down. Nico cried out when Will pushed into him. It didn't hurt anymore like it had the first few times they'd had sex, but it still gave him a jolt, like a shot of adrenaline straight to his heart. Nico rocked back and forth as Will thrust into him. Will moaned in time with the thrusts, and Nico gasped as Will turned them over and pressed him into the bed. Nico clung to Will's shoulders as Will started thrusting harder, hitting the spot that always drove Nico wild. Nico felt heat building up in his stomach, hurtling towards release. Will's face was flushed as his blue eyes met Nico's. Suddenly, Nico's orgasm ripped through his body, making Nico cry out as he came all over Will's chest. He shuddered as he felt Will come deep inside him.

Will rolled off him, and they both lay on their backs, staring up at the ceiling and panting.

"I love you, angel," Will whispered.

"I love you too, sunshine," Nico breathed back. He slipped his hand into Will's, where he could feel the cool silver band on his ring finger. It was a mate to the one on Nico's left hand, with the exception of the engraving on the inside. Unlike his, Will's said,

"You are my sunshine."


End file.
